The judiciary of Portugal is a system of courts that together constitute one of the four organs of Sovereignty as defined by the Portuguese Constitution. The courts are independent from the other three Portuguese organs of Sovereignty (President of the Republic, Government and Assembly of the Republic).
The Portuguese courts are divided by four independent orders, each of which corresponds to the separate Constitutional, Judicial, Administrative and Auditors jurisdictions.
The Government of Portugal, also referred to as the Government of the Republic is one of the four sovereignty bodies of Portugal, together with the president, the assembly of the Republic and the courts. It is both the body of sovereignty that conducts the general politics of the country and the superior body of the Portuguese public administration.
The term "constitutional government" or simply "government" also refers to the team of ministers and its period of management under one prime minister. This concept is similar to an "administration" in the parlance of a presidential republic or to a "collective ministry" in the parlance of some Commonwealth countries. Each government in this sense is identified by a roman number, with the present one (formed in June 2025) being the XXV Constitutional Government since the establishment of the current democratic regime, in 1976.
The Ministry of Justice (Portuguese: Ministério da Justiça) is the Portuguese government ministry responsible for the administration of the judiciary system. It is headed by the Minister of Justice.
The Ministry of Justice should not be confused with the Public Ministry. This last one is not a Government ministry - despite the name - but the independent body of magistrates of the Judiciary charged with the public prosecution and the legal representation of the State before the courts.
Portugal is a unitary state with delegated authority to three levels of local government that cover the entire country:
The Judiciary of Portugal has a separate geographic system. Portugal has a long history of complex, inconsistent and layered administrative geography. As a result, there is no single, unified layer of administrative units that spans the entire Portugal.
The Public Prosecution Service (Portuguese: Ministério Público; lit. 'Public Ministry'; MP) is the body of the judiciary of Portugal responsible for the public prosecution and the representation of the state before the courts. It is an hierarchic organized body, composed of magistrates and headed by the Procurador-Geral da República (attorney-general of the Republic).
Although having the word "ministry" in its name, the MP is not a ministry in the sense of government department.
The Government of Portugal, also referred to as the Government of the Republic is one of the four sovereignty bodies of Portugal, together with the president, the assembly of the Republic and the courts. It is both the body of sovereignty that conducts the general politics of the country and the superior body of the Portuguese public administration.
The term "constitutional government" or simply "government" also refers to the team of ministers and its period of management under one prime minister. This concept is similar to an "administration" in the parlance of a presidential republic or to a "collective ministry" in the parlance of some Commonwealth countries. Each government in this sense is identified by a roman number, with the present one (formed in June 2025) being the XXV Constitutional Government since the establishment of the current democratic regime, in 1976.